Obon Memories: Terminal Island

While many people visit Temples and the graves of their ancestors this Obon, let us not forget entire communities that have also passed on. For this we chose to visit the Terminal Island Memorial in San Pedro California with it's iconic stone Tori Gate that stands without color like a faded memory of the lively once thriving Japanese-American Community that was bulldozed by the US Navy after the forced internment of all US Citizens of Japanese Ancestry.  When you arrive there it is hard to believe that this barren strip of wharf was once home to some 3000 Nikkei and their families with houses, trees, and a real Shinto Jinja. All that remains are the ghostly reminders of the people that spoke their own distinct dialect of Japanese and once made this place unique. While it is off the beaten path there are many signs that will show you the way there. It is if the spirits of the place want you to visit and during Obon it is the perfect time to do it. Gassho!

 

The Lost Village at Terminal Island

When one thinks of San Pedro or Terminal Island, most people are unaware that there once lived a thriving Japanese fishing village there. Unique in fact, the Islanders had their own accent. But sadly, the peaceful village that had been settled by people of Wakayama Prefecture.  The population numbered around 3000 Nisei, Sansei, and some original Isei was forcibly evacuated February 1942 following the outbreak of war with Japan. None of it's original structures remain most notably it's small Shinto Shrine. In honoring the ten year anniversary of the erection of the Terminal Island Memorial featuring two Japanese Fishermen at work in the shadow of a Shinto Tori Gate, we at American Mishima chose to feature some recently re-discovered photos of the last days of the Shrine and attach the following video that speaks of both the Village and the Documentary Furusato: The Lost Village of Terminal Island.

And next comes the two sad photos no Shinto Guji or Practitioner would ever want to endure.

Though lost to the cruelties of history, not forgotten in our hearts.